Full Cycle MOUntain Bike Team

In 2017, Full Cycle will be fielding a race team, with planned appearances in races, including the Moab Rocks Stage Race, the Epic Rides Series, Pro XCT, and the Breck Epic Stage Races. A full race schedule is still in development. Evelyn Dong and Jakub will anchor the Professional team roster. Evelyn, most recently a key contributor on the Cannondale 360Fly Professional Mountain Bike Racing Team, instantly brings a high level of competitiveness to our fledgling team. She is no stranger to the podium in top level races.

Favorite Non-cycling Activity:

After a 14 hour travel day to get to Snowshoe, West Virginia (drive from home to bus station, bus to airport, flight from Denver to Pittsburgh, get picked up and drive to Snowshoe), a late, glamorous dinner of cereal, and finally a sound night of sleep, I woke up Thursday morning thinking, "I hope these trails are worth it..." And thankfully, they were.

West Virginia has never been on my radar as a mountain bike destination - as a snooty CO/UT citizen, my vision of this small state was fairly blank, other than coal mining and well, that's about it. I was happy to have my eyes opened on this trip. The top of Snowshoe mountain tops out at almost 5,000 ft, and the views of the surrounding valleys and mountains are dramatic, especially with the fog drifting in and out, which seemed fairly common there. Beyond the scenery, the trails were no joke. While I was only able to ride a tiny fraction of the trails at Snowshoe Mountain (mainly the race course), I loved every bit of it. The course shot us down a fast, flowy descent, up a short climb, and then into a slick, rooty section that was the first cruxy part of the course. A couple straight shot options sent one through some tight trees and after clipping a couple with my bars (780mm) on the pre-ride, I opted to stick with going around the trees.

The only section of the course I had mixed feelings on was the flat, man-made rock garden. When dry, the lines were fairly rideable. In the wet, the rock garden was a bit more of a crapshoot for me. A few riders rode it during the race, most ran it without losing time. I "ran" it during the race, i.e. hopping from rock to rock like a very small, very slow frog.

Onto the next part, my very favorite section of the course - the hero descent. Two glorious, high-speed bermed turns, a couple tighter corners, a root drop, and sigh, that was it. After climbing back up a couple steep pitches though, we were quickly rewarded with another fun section, a fast, rocky descent put us into a pedally rooty section, and then the heckling gallery that was the last rock garden. There were a few lines through this part - I opted to keep my wheels on the ground and took the straight shot through the middle.

And did I mention that it rains here? A lot, it turns out. Most categories (DH, DS, XC, and Enduro) experienced some sort of weather hold during the week. Lightning, it turns out, is a good reason to not run the lifts. For us XC nerds, I think the delays were just a precaution. Short track, a precursor to the main XC event, was held on Friday and it was a fast, furious hammer fest. I was happy to see my training buddy and good friend, Erin Huck, take the win, while I dieseled along through the field and ended up with 7th, a good short track for me.

Fast forward a couple days, and the rain had not let up, making the course muddier and slicker than we had seen earlier in the week. More mud=more fun. After battling with a couple women for the first couple laps, I settled into 6th place and rode the last couple laps on my own.

I rode my Liv Obsess (27.5" hardtail) with a dropper post for the races and had on some bomber Maxxis Ikon tires that were perfect for the wet, muddy conditions. Thanks to Full Cycle for getting my bike dialed in before the trip, and for the support all season!

Epic Off-Road Round 1: Whiskey 50

Post Sea Otter was a blur of truck tetris and blitzing out of Laguna Seca before the mass exodus traffic hit. Success. Also, my friend Serena Bishop, another LIV rider, joined me for this leg of the journey which made the week a whole lot more fun.

We made a fairly direct line to Prescott, AZ, stopping for a spin around the outskirts of Joshua Tree NP. Unfortunately, nary a Joshua Tree was seen because we were too stingy to pay the entrance fee. So instead we feasted our eyes on desert. and more desert.

Our home for the first half of the week was the White Spar campground, just on the edge of Prescott, nestled in some tall, dark pines. The Whiskey 50 course runs straight through the campground, which made for convenient pre-riding.

Friday evening rolled up quickly as usual, which brought the highly anticipated/dreaded downtown crit. The course is a punch in the gut, straight up a climb, turn a corner, climb some more, and wind back down around a series of corners and straightaways. I've had some glory here - from a couple years ago, wiping out in epic fashion in the crash that lives on in infamy in Whiskey lore, to winning last year. This year, I knew, with more big names in the field, it was going to be pretty tough from the gun. Erin Hick and Kate Courtney attacked relentlessly off the front and I tried my best to hang on to the pack of 6 or 7. I got dropped on the last lap and was cruising down one of the last straightaways when I saw Rose Grant and Chloe Woodruff, who had both been in contention for the win, on the ground. I spun around to check on them - they were both relatively okay, although Chloe was scraped up and shaken. We rolled across the finish together and that was that, another Whiskey crit done.

Sunday's main event started with the nicest weather I'd ever experienced there. No last minute waffling between arm warmers/no arm warmers. No horror stories from the amateur race held the day before of snowstorms and hypothermic evacuations.

We rolled out of town and my legs were not having a good day on the double track traverse. I tried to keep a positive outlook and ride my way back into the race, but the front group was long gone. On the bright side, I was having a blast on the descents, riding my LIV Obsess hardtail with a dropper post.

The long road climb back from Skull Valley was not a happy place for me this year, I started out optimistically, but felt my legs turning over slower and slower. Some days are just rough and this was one of them. Kudos to Crystal Anthony who rode a strong climb and passed me near the top. It turned out to be a fun battle with her for the rest of the race. I had the upper hand on the descents, having riddenthis course 5 times now (sheesh, that makes me feel old), and she was a stronger climber and pedaler on the road. We went back and forth a couple times, but she caught me on the road heading in to town. Crystal outright schooled me in the sprint to the line. Yes, I looked like a child on a strider bike next to her. Put sprinting on the list of things I need to work on...

While it wasn't my best day, Prescott trails are never a bad time. I chose to have fun out there and put my best efforts in where I felt I could make up time.

The first round of the Pro XCT, which took place last weekend, also happened to be the first big race for F.A.S.T.

Evelyn Dong and Jakub Valigura took on the UCI Pro women's and men's races and came away with some awesome results and stories. Read Evelyn's race reports below for an inside perspective of what went down last weekend.

Weekend recap

Confession: I've got a wicked soft spot for Fontana. While trash talking abounds on this venue in Pro XC circles, I love this place.

My Fontana favorites:

1. The Rio Ranch market across the street is excellent for post race grub - mainly, their rice pudding made in-house. Their burritos are pretty fine, too.

2. Waving to the downhill shuttles as they drive up the hill to do practice runs while I'm doing pre race openers.

3. Graffiti in the canal. There are some talented artists around here.

4. Getting cheered on by people who think we're crazy/have never seen a bike race

5. For being in the middle of the Inland Empire, Southridge Park trails are pretty damn fun. Good views, too.

The first race is always good for getting some kinks out - remembering what gear I start in, how to shuffle for position going into the singletrack, etc. Well, I didn't quite nail that second item and had to do a little running with my bike after bumping elbows. The positive spin on that is that it snapped me into focus and I buckled down to do work the rest of the race.

I ended up catching Maghalie Rochette from the CLIF team on the last lap, but wasn't ready on the finish stretch with the right gear or mindset, so I lost that sprint. I ended up 7th on the day. Noted: always be ready to sprint for the line.

There are things I was happy about - my legs felt good, I descended clean, and I dug deep. And yes, there are things I'm pissed at myself for doing, or not doing. But I've learned from those mistakes (hopefully) and I'm moving on.

Sunday consisted of a lazy morning, followed by a leisurely spin to the venue, waiting around trying to stay hydrated in the shade, and finally the short track race at 2:40. The pace was pretty mellow off the line, no one wanting to take the lead. I don't like riding in a big pack so between Alexis Skarda and myself swapping leads, we brought the group down to 6. After that it was fast and fun! I ended up 4th on the day, holding off Shayna Powless and Kelsey Urban on the deep, gravelly finish stretch.

The techy details:

Race bike - LIV Obsess, size small, 27.5" DRYVE wheels

I don't usually dork out on wheels but this was my first time riding the DRYVE wheels, well, second, if you count the preride the day before. The internal rim width is 22mm, so it gives the weenie, fast rolling Maxxis Aspens I like to use better traction and cornering. On Fontana's rutted, dusty, and sometimes blown out descent, this combo was perfect.